Why Camels are the new Black

So - I have cheered up a lot since my little dark cloud week.  I did my sessions on tuesday, and the nurses were very receptive, they were interested, if a little nonplussed by the documentation session, but they loved the safe moving of the patient session.  I had one lovely lady who was "granny" and I was demonstrating how to help Granny get up out of bed, and to walk with Granny.  I showed very basic techniques, really just emphasizing the importance of keeping your feet apart, to create a stable base, and keeping your back straight.  I showed them how to use the patients limbs as a lever when turning in bed, and demonstrated how to help a patient to fall safely.

So, it was great, I was buzzing.  Then I went to a gig in the evening, that was king of a non-event.  I was told it started at 6.30pm, so I figured it would be an early night, by 9.30pm when I left, the band had still not showed up.  But hey ho, I had a very nice time chatting, and playing consequences.

Wednesday, wow, it was like I'd fallen down the rabbit hole.  I think some of the nurses had worked the night shift, only 6 of the 16 turned up, and one was fallign asleep, one was on her mobile, and two of them were having a chat, through my lesson.  I was mortified, and had to give a stern telling off, line by interpreted line.  I was so pissed off, but I made my remonstration very cam and reasonable, and they were contrite. 

I had told my work colleagues that I would be working from the VSO office thursday and friday, as they were holding meetings in the office that were distracting me, and they werent making lunch until 3pm.  But I was asked, please come in at 2pm on thrusday to have oyur photo taken.  So i came in, stupidly expecting to nip in, get the photo done and nip off out again, I had big plans to go get my hair cut, and then look in on an ill friend.  What was I thinking?  Of course it didnt play out like that....I was waiting for nearly 3 hours before they got the photoshoot together (I still have no idea what the photos are for, but I do know that I look very grumpy in them....).

Anyway, thursday evening was the pub quiz, which FINALLY my team won.  Woooo hoo.  But it goes on so late, that I was tired on friday, so worked hard with my interpreter making sessions on pre and post op care, with a bit about the importance of rationales in practice, and on special considerations when caring for the elderly.  After wednesday, I am not looking forward to the session....

Anyway, I had a lovely meal out with Kate on friday night, and got an early night, as I was off to the countryside early the next day, with two brits I met at the pub quiz.

They had a mongolian friend who was driving them out and giving them a bit of a tour, so I tagged along for the ride, and what a ride it was!

We were collected by Bat at 10am, in a land cruiser, and immediately offered beer - bit early in the morning for that!  Drove to a huge monument, a 40m high steel statue of Chinggis Khan, on a horse, looking frightfully serious, facing China.....

It is massive, and in the middle of nowhere,  it is quite expensive to go into the building, and climb up inside Chinggis, but Bat paid for us all,

So this is us standing on the horses head.

It was very cold up there.......

Then we drove further into the countryside, passing what can nly be described as the most random thing I have seen.  Ever. Take a look, imagine driving along the mongolian wilderness, lookng out of the window deep in thoughtful reverie, and then suddenly you see.....

Yes, it did give me a bit of a shock!

Further we went, and were taken up a hill to a little Bhuddist monastery, to get to it we had to go over this very very ricketly rope bridge....it was very "indiana jones and the temple of doom"

Up a lot fo steps to the monastery, which was cute.  There were buddhist paintings on the surrounding rocks, but my camera was too crap to capture them.

big climb....

Prayer Wheels

After the monastery, we drove towards the Ger parks, but on the way spotted some camels.  We were talking about how much we loved the idea of riding a camel, so Bat arranged it for us!!  We only got a short ride each, but it was ACE!

this is me on an ACTUAL CAMEL!!

Sooooo cool!

Then we went for luch at a very random restaurant, the food was really good, and Bat paid for it all, despite all our protests, but it looked so incongruous, a very american style restaurant in the middle of the wilderness.....there was a house next to the restaurant, which was maybe even more random than the dinosaurs...

Very odd.

Then we went to find a ger to stay in for the night, and after a walk we settled in for the night with a bit of vodka and a pack of cards.  We had to get up at 7am to go horse riding, which was cool, but quite sedate, the Mongolian man took my horses reins, and led me along, so it was more like going on a donkey ride at the beach than horseriding, but the scenery was stunning, and the horse was chilled, so it was a nice ride.  we rode up to the road, where the bus met us in impeccably timingake us back to UB.  Where I now sit, quite exhausted, as the fire went out in the Ger and it was -5, so not the best sleep....

ooh, this is our ger

from the outside,

aaaaand the inside.  it was cute. 

Right, my brain is dead, and I need to go to the supermarket, ciao for now lads.xxx

hill walking and the utter futility of everything

So, I have been desceding into gloom latelty.  I think it is just hormonal, but I also have a sneaking suspicion that life really is a pain in the bum.

ANYWAY, in a proactive attempt to get rid of the encroaching depression, I went for a long walk in the hills surrounding UB, it was so nice to get out of the city, and into the fresh air, and to see the stunning views.  these are some of the photos I took.

Large golden Bhudda at the south edge of the city

this is UB from a distance

obligatory shadow shot

For some reason I kept expecting to see Lassie bounding along towards me.

making my way up the hill

posing

So - it was really nice to stretch my legs, especially since  spent the rest of the weekend working on my lessons and training proposals.  Being a teacher is HARD WORK!  I suppose I thought that it would all just kind of happen naturally, that I would slip seamlessly into my new role.  But I had not anticipated the barriers of language and cultural difference.  And how difficult it is to explain concepts, or talk to nurses about nursing care, when they dont have the basic equipment or resources. 

I am wishing I had brought over some dressing samples to show them, all they have here for any wound at all, is gauze. 

My next session, tomorrow, is on Nursing Documentation and then another one on safe moving and handling of the patient.  I am not sure how receptive they will be, as the documentation here is terrible, but they have tried to devlop it, and are very proud of their efforts. 

I watched, in horror, as a man wheeled into recovery from theatre, was tipped off the trolley onto the bed.  Patients are pulled around like rag dolls, its not out of malice, I think it just doesnt occur to them to be gentle!  In the bus or the street, people are very argy bargy, they knock ino you push you out of the way, or sit pretty much right on top of you on the bus.

Anyway, I will sign off there as I feel a doom and gloom coming on.  I HOPE that my landlord is coming this evening to help me set up the internet in my flat.  Turs out I DID flood the downstairs neighbours by the way, and I am still too scared to turn my straighteners on in case they dont work, so I have  really wild hair right now.

why looking where you are going and paying attention to what you are doing are important. A cautionary tale.

So - this weekend I have kept quite quiet, I got my money sorted eventually.  On the monday I was so fed up, I walked the 5 miles to Kates house from my work, and she cooked me a lovely supper, and lent me some money for bus fare home, and some food the next day.  However, I managed to get my UK card ratified for use in Mongolia (the guy on the phone was like 'sorry, where did you say you were?', 'outer mongolia', 'really?', 'yep'.)

Then I got an SOS from a stressed Kate, so I was able to repay the mercy mission, and went to hers armed with Vodka tonics, and got my listening ears on.  We were very restrained with the VT's, and I still got an early night and was functional the next day at work.  Was starting to get frustrated again though, as one of the two computers in the office have disappeared, leaving me nowhere to write my lessons out.  So I spent friday working at the VSO office, but still didnt get everything done, so I have come back in today, all pious working on a saturday, and the f***ing printer isnt working, so I dont quite know what to do, so I thought, I will update my blog, as I have been neglecting it so thoughtlessly lately.

So - this morning was a kind of housework and stuff day, I was all organised and was workign my way through my laundry, darks, lights, towels, sheets etc, while also making myself a bacon, cheese and tomato omlette, watching the news on BBC world, and sweeping the floor.  This turned out to be taking multitasking a step too far, and I inadvertently left the hose on to fill the twin tub, without turning it off 'drain' function, this led to a disasterous chain of events.  The bathroom flooded, water spilled out into the hallway where my ghd straighteners, possibly the most prercious thing i own, were sitting - in my haste to simultaneously rescue them and turn the water off, I managed to smash my knee into the edge of the door frame.  As I doubled over I noticed that the plug for the twin tub was swimming in the water, and I think my heart actually stopped beating for a second, I was convinced my time on this earth was up - cut short by a freak domestic electrical mishap.  My knee was killing me, and howling and cursing I then realised my omlette was in danger of burning so I hobbled to the kitchen where I managed to smack my face on an open cupboard door.

I felt like i was in an episode of Fawlty Towers, it was utterly ridiculous.  However, my ommelette was fine, and so I ate it (off my chopping board as I dont have a plate) while sitting down to watch the news, which was boring, as I felt it best to tackle the flood with a full stomach, and having let my injuries settle a little.

it was kind of good, as it meant I ended up giving the bathroom floor a good scrub.  I jsut hope it didnt go through the ceiling of downstairs.....

I have left my straighteners drying on the windowsill, and I will let you all know if they are ok.

What is with the arse slapping guys?!?!

So - I returned from Darkhan with renewed vigour, ready to take work by the horns again, shake it around and get something going.

Khulan, my boss, was back from Japan, and my interpreter had been paid, and had a good rest.  Tempers were restored to the 'genial' setting, and new plans were ripe for picking.

I had a meeting with Khulan, presented my training schedule proposal, and aske dfor what I needed, the hospital policies, and the trianing schedule currently in place.  It all went fine, and my first lesson was planned for the following tuesday. YIKES!  I had to get writing!

Went out thursday to celebrate being back in UB, by having a HUGE meal at one of the most expensive restaurants in town......

So on friday the energy had kind of dissipated at work....but I still managed to get a lot done.  Friday night was a night in Strings, the club with the philipino rock band, i danced til 4am, and spent saturday on Kate's sofa.

I realised that weekend, that I had not been paid either, and had spent my last money on a meal out and dancing.  I had exactly 300 tugrugs left, with is about 15p.  That was enough for busfare home on saturday night, but on sunday I was rather stuck.  I had a tin of sardines, and a bottle of water in my flat.  So sunday was a quite hungry day, and early to bed.  At least I got my sweeping and laundry done.

I have been getting my bum slapped as I walk down the street, twice by kids, and twice by grown men.  It is slightly disconcerting.

Anyway, this week just gone, at work, went well.  My training sessions went ok, the first one was a bit of a shambles, but a saved it by turning it into a discussion about the differences between UK and mongolian nursing, and invited them to ask me any questions they wanted.  I was kind of expecting questions about illnesses, operations and stuff, but instead they wanted to know what hours UK nurses worked, how much they get paid, and what the uniform is like.  Ho hum.

The big trip

So - monday I went to Darkhan!  It is a three and a half hour bus ride away, I was travelling with Ihab, and we made out way to the bus station together.  We had a bite to eat, and then boarded the most ornately decorated bus I have ever been in.

For three hours, the view from the bus window was the same, just a vast expanse of empty land.  Now and again I saw herds of sheep, goats, cows and horses, unrestrained, grazing - on god knows what, the land is bare - and their herders, Mongolians in full traditional garb, on horseback, keeping their flock in check.  Here and there I saw solitary Gers, and thought - what a lonely life.

Darkhan was great, I was so well looked after.  Stayed with Robin, who was the best hostess.  Her apartment was so nice, I felt very at home, but also slightly like I was in an episode of Doctor Who.  Darkhan is very small, and also very random.  There is a big statue of Bhudda on a hill, and a large bleak childrens park, with ugly, painted animals, and faded painted paths in the brown dust.

Everywhere is brown dust, everywhere is brown.  Some cows drift through the central square.  there is no bus, just taxi's that function as buses, the driver stops for everyone who waves and we all pile in and hope we get taken where we want to go.

The hospital is very nice, a lot like mine, and it was so helpful to see how tings worked there, and have a lot fo vitally important input form Robin.  On the first night we went out for dinner, me and Ihab, and all the VSO's in Darkhan, of which there are 6.  It was a very pleasant meal, I heard more gossip there than I had my whole time in UB.

The second night Robin and I went for supper at the home of Sally, another volunteer.  She made us vodka tonics with ice and lemon, and we ate curry, rice and dahl.  mmmmmm.  I felt even more like I was in an episode of Doctor who.

I was sorry to leave the next day, everyone in Darkhan is so chilled!  They walk around smiling!  It was actually nice to come back to UB though, as we arrived I instantly felt 'aah, I am back home!' and similar to when I used to coem back to London after a jaunt in the countryside, I actually felt a warm familiarity when I saw all the scowling faces, fought my way through a scrum crowd of shouting people, and took a lungful of black, diseased, heavily polluted air. mmmmm city.

Caffers goes Cafflick

So, after a fun friday night, saturday was very quiet, I had dinner at Kates, spicy meatballs in tomato sauce with spaghetti..mmmmmmmm.  then went home and got an early night as I had to be up for Church the next day, Easter!

I managed ot find the church ok, having been given the head up on its existence by the Philipino VSO's.  A little non-descript building sitting apart from the road and the rest of the buildings, it was like the tardis - outside a corrogated iron shack, inside a bright, spacious, beautifully but modestly decorated.  The mass was said in Mongolian and in English, and there was a Mongolian choir.  I was asked to do the first reading!  But since I am quite used to reading in Church I was not fazed.

The mass was lovely, but very long because of being said twice.  The only bad thing was this freaky american woman, who got up and sang the single most hideous song I have ever heard in my life.  I can hardly bear to think about it, but must recount the full horror for the sake of posterity.  She was one of these women who is utterly conservative, frumpy, she was wearing a padded alice band for goodness sake, and the ugliest cardigan that ever lived.  She looked like - you know really bad films from the 80's, where there is a really minor character, in a film set in a really backward little place.....she looked like that.  ANYWAY, I cant help being horrible about her because of the song, if she hadnt of sung it, I could have ignored her frightful dress sense.  So - she stands up, clutching the microphone, with an expression of pained piety, and begins to 'sing' (caterwauling would be a better term for what she did).  The song was an abomination.  I cant actually bring myself to tell you what it was about, but I came out in hives, got a headache, felt sick and nearly died.  it was that bad.

Sooo, then i went to have lunch at Kate's, which was LUSH, beef panang curry with jasmine rice.  then I went and skyped with my family, which was LUSH, and then I went to play poker, which wasnt lush as I didnt win.  Again.

Putting the 'ace' into Face.

aaargh, I know - I have been so slack, life goes so fast here and I cant keep up.  So, I did my lecture on Wound Assessment at the Chingeltei FGP.  It went really well.  HAving observed the last one, I had some ideas of how to structure and deliver the information that would keep the interest of the nurses.  ONe of these tactics was to include graphic images of leg ulcers in various stages of infection, necrosis, maceration etc.  yummy!

I was very pleased with how the session went and I have been asked to come back to do another one.

I was starting to get frustrated at work though, things just werent getting anywhere.  My boss went away for two weeks, so my interpreter and I were left floating somewhat, no input or guidance.  I was apathetically researching teaching subjects, but my heart wasnt in it as I didnt know yet who I would be teaching, how often, or when I would be starting.  My interpreter was getting bored and demoralised, she didnt get paid on time, and when she did it was less than she was expecting, I didnt have enough work for her to do, and the other staff were draggin us willy nilly round the hospital, and trying to get me to practice on patients.  It was all getting a bit out of hand, and I was losing the will to live, which was a shame after a good, high energy start.

So I arranged to go and spend some time in Darkhan, with the other VSO nurse trainer, who had been in post for a year, and was getting on very well.  With tis trip organised, I could relax and enjoy my weekend.  On Friday I attended a meeting at VSO abotu various aspects to do with living and working in Mongolia, various project updates, and general discussion.  It was quite a positive meeting, and afterwards some of us went to The Bull, a hotpot restaurant.  It was a fun meal, and I was feeling extra happy as I had recieved that day a parcel with an outfit in it for going uot dancing.

After the meal we went to a pub quiz, which was very fun, it was the launch, so there were lots of people (all ex-pats, but never mind) and everyone was in a good mood.  After the quiz we headed to a nightclub called Face.  Which is hilarous, and pretty cool.  They adopted the notto 'more is more' when they put in the disco lights though, it took days for my vision to return to normal!  But they played some wicked tunes, and I was a dance floor staple for the night.  I even got some admiring attention from Mongolians, one girl pushed my friend out of the way to dance with me! 

Felt like I danced all my troubles away.